Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 994 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 93.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 1,270.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 137 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 281.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 202 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 22,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd now owns 226 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 74.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $276.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $233.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $289.33. The firm has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on RL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wallcoverings, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances.